If there is one decision Graham Potter made at West Ham United that his successor Nuno Espirito Santo agreed with, it was replacing Mads Hermansen with Alphonse Areola after a disastrous run of Premier League performances.
Shortly after the 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace which would prove to be his final match in charge, Graham Potter opened up on the ‘difficult’ dilemma facing him in the Hammers dugout.
Potter pushed for Mads Hermansen’s arrival from Leicester City back in August. So too did Casper Ankergren, during his short-lived spell as West Ham United’s goalkeeping coach.
Yet, the Dane’s early performances were so worrying, so error-strewn, that Nuno Espirito Santo’s predecessor felt he had no choice but to take Hermansen out of the firing line after a grand total of four Premier League matches.
Four matches in which the Hammers had conceded eleven goals, and kept only one clean sheet. Ironically enough, against Nuno’s Nottingham Forest.
In his first two matches since taking charge, Nuno has picked up where Potter left off by choosing the experienced Alphonse Areola over the £18 million newbie.
Though speaking to ViaPlay with Monday’s London derby against Brentford on the horizon, the 51-year-old insists that Hermansen’s time will come again.
Nuno Espirito Santo shares West Ham United’s Mads Hermansen plan
In truth, a former Real Madrid, Villarreal and Paris Saint-Germain glovesman has done very little wrong in his three games back between the sticks.
Nuno hailed Alphonse Areola after the draw at Everton. The well-travelled Frenchman was also part of a resilient defensive rearguard during that eventual 2-0 defeat by Arsenal before the October international break.
While Hermansen will get his chance to make amends later down the line, exactly when that chance will come is anyone’s guess.
West Ham do not have European football to contend with this season. They are already out of the EFL Cup. If Areola keeps performing in the way he has done of late, could Hermansen be made to wait until the FA Cup third round to stake his claim again?
“When we got here, the change in the goalkeeper position had already been made,” Nuno says. “But we have seen a good and top professional goalkeeper [in Hermansen] who works, like many of his teammates.
“So, the relationship is developing, and it becomes normal as time goes by.
“As I mentioned to you, it was a decision that was made before our arrival, this change in the goalkeeper position. And we felt that, when we came to the club and had limited time, we had to continue with Alphonse.
“But all the players will get their chances. It’s a new start for all of them.”
Nuno demands greater defending from West Ham as a whole
While Hermansen was directly at fault for at least two of the eight goals West Ham let in during heavy defeats by Sunderland and Chelsea, Nuno insists that defending the penalty area is a team effort.
West Ham are fixing their ‘big problem’ from set-piece situations already, he feels. As evidenced by the fact that the division’s most formidable dead-ball side in Arsenal had to rely on a rebound and a penalty kick at the Emirates.
Hermansen’s biggest weakness has been exposed via corners and free-kicks so far. Tending to stay on his line in comparison to the stronger and more commanding Areola. But if Nuno can coax better performances out of those ahead of him – particularly Konstantinos Mavropanos and Max Kilman – Hermansen may soon get the protection he needs in more physically-demanding situations.
“What we expect from Mads is that he works hard and is respectful and patient when it comes to making a decision,” Nuno adds.
“It’s not him who conceded [all those goals]. It’s the team. We have to improve the team. We have to improve the players individually, all of them.
“It’s not about individual players, or about who concedes or scores a goal. We score and concede goals together. Now, we are working on our idea for the team. And I hope that the next time we talk together, we won’t talk about the same numbers, in terms of conceding goals.
“That would be really nice.”
